Leo lost his vision at 42, here's how he's learning to get around

Learn how Leo Leighton is learning to use a white cane from Bosma Enterprises orientation and mobility instructors Brenda Jinks and Bianca Gerena. Gerena takes Leighton on a lesson in Broad Ripple. Leighton began losing his vision two years ago.
Jenna Watson/IndyStar

Two years ago, Leo Leighton began losing his vision. Here's how he is reclaiming independence on White Cane Safety Day.

Bianca Gerena is Leighton’s orientation and mobility instructor at Bosma Enterprises, an Indianapolis nonprofit providing programs and career opportunities for the blind and visually impaired. She has been teaching Leighton to walk with a white cane since mid-August.

Leighton, 44, began losing his vision two years ago due to ocular histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that can spread to the eyes. Leighton hopes Bosma’s programs will enable him to work again.

Buy Photo

Leo Leighton walks through downtown Broad Ripple during a white cane mobility lesson in Indianapolis, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2017. Bianca Gerena is his orientation and mobility specialist at Bosma Enterprises. Leighton, who has partial vision loss due to ocular histoplasmosis syndrome, is learning to navigate with a white cane. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared October 15 national White Cane Safety Day.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

At Bosma’s rehabilitation center, clients first learn to navigate the northwest-side facility. If they don’t already have one, they’ll be measured for a cane and learn cane techniques.

Depending on a client’s lifestyle and needs, he or she might train in a quiet residential area, rather then a noisier one. Next, a “semi-business” area, like Broad Ripple. Eventually some clients will graduate to Downtown Indianapolis and even ride the bus line.

Brenda Jinks has been instructing the blind for 41 years. She says traffic flow, cardinal directions and sounds are key in navigating without sight. “Traffic can become a blind person’s best friend,” Jinks said.

According to Jinks, only 8 to 9 percent of legally blind people are totally blind. For example, Leighton sees light, shapes and colors, and can read some, depending on the font and lighting. He pairs his partial vision with what the cane’s tactile contact tells him.

Buy Photo

Leo Leighton walks the Bosma Enterprises orientation and mobility trail during a white cane lesson in Indianapolis, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. Bianca Gerena is his orientation and mobility specialist at Bosma Enterprises. Leighton, who has partial vision loss due to ocular histoplasmosis syndrome, is learning to navigate with a white cane. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared October 15 national White Cane Safety Day.(Photo: Jenna Watson/IndyStar)

For Leighton, listening to the cane has been the biggest challenge.

“At first, you put this ‘stick’ in my hand and I’m supposed to listen to it? It doesn’t compute right away,” Leighton said. “You see other people doing it and how well they do it. … Is this going to be for me? Does this really work? It’s hard to make the connection, you just really have to do it a lot.”

“The cane is serving as their eyes and it’s talking to them as they walk,” Jinks said. “It becomes their best friend and a lot of individuals do name their cane, trying to make some fun out of it.”

Leighton named his cane Gigi. William Powell, 60, has gone through more than 200 canes, all of which he named Ralph.

“When I was in school I got in a lot of trouble because I tried to play pool with my cane. I fixed the ceiling tile with my cane. We’d occasionally have little cane sword fights,” Powell said through laughter.

Powell, Bosma’s director of assistive technology, says white canes have evolved greatly since his days at the School for the Blind. He remembers a wooden straight cane with a hook handle and an aluminum tip used in the 1960s.

“It was absolutely beastly,” Powell said. “It would be like taking a wooden broom handle and finding your way around.”

Decades later, the options seem unlimited; fiberglass or aluminum, foldable or rigid. There are about a dozen attachments for the tip of the cane, suitable for any terrain.

Oct. 15 is White Cane Safety Day, as declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. “It’s to show respect and show the world that visually impaired and blind people can be independent,” Jinks said.

While well-repaired sidewalks and ramps play the largest role in keeping blind people safe, everyone has a responsibility.

“Simple things like sweeping the sidewalk in front of your house; limbs fall, trash cans,” Leighton said. “Being aware that someone who walks down the sidewalk isn’t always going to be able to see what’s on the sidewalk.”

Jinks and Leighton agree that sighted people shouldn’t be afraid to say hello to a blind person at a crosswalk, or ask if he or she would like help.

“An individual might say ‘Sure, could you tell me where I’m at?’” Jinks said. “And some people will say ‘No, I’m fine, I travel this every day.’”

“But you never, ever want to go up and just grab someone’s arm,” Jinks added. “If you’re going to offer assistance you would just say ‘Would you like to take my arm?’”

Approaching the corner of Carrollton and Broad Ripple avenues, the aroma of fresh-baked cookies told Bianca and Leo their destination was near.

An employee out front stopped washing windows and said they were in the right place, following toward the door.

Now it was Gigi’s turn to speak, telling Leo when to stop at a recess in the brick wall, right at the doorway of Insomnia Cookies.